Leptispa Baly 1858: 1

Synonomys

Leptomorpha Chevrolat 1836: 390 Nomen nudum.

Leptomorpha Germar 1824: 10 (not Falderman).

Parallelispa Fairmaire 1884: 238.

Leptispa (Paradownesia) Gestro 1899b: 220.

Lepthispa Weise 1911a: 44 (misspelling).

Leptisma Pic 1925a: 16 (misspelling).

Type Species

Leptomorpha filiformis Germar.

Diagnosis

Leptispa can be distinguished by the following combination of characters:

• body parallel-sided, flattened
• lateral margin of pronotumpronotum:
  occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
  and elytra without long, stiff spines
• head without frontal horn between antennae, clypeusclypeus:
  usually quadrangular, elongate; joined to the labrum
  large
• pronotum pronotum:
  occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
  with seta in anterior angle
• elytra without tooth-like projection at apex, without tubercles or costae
• mesosternum mesosternum:
  narrow between middle coxae, separated from metasternum by a transverse suture; forming the anterior part of the middle coxal cavities
  long
• apex of mesotibia does not reach hind coxa

Description

Body elongate, narrow; parallel-sided, flattened; color usually black, dark blue-green or yellow.

Head: small; elongate; narrow behind eyeeye:
elongate, slightly prominent, multifaceted; usually slightly kidney-shaped
; eyeeye:
elongate, slightly prominent, multifaceted; usually slightly kidney-shaped
moderately large; clypeusclypeus:
usually quadrangular, elongate; joined to the labrum
large, triangular, projecting, setose; labrumlabrum:
triangular, joined to the clypeus and the oral orifice
transverse; maxillary palps with palpomere 1 short, 2 elongate, obconic, 3 obconic, shorter than 2, 4 oval.

Antenna: with 11-antennomeres; thickens toward apex; reaches to base of pronotumpronotum:
occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
; antennomere 1 largest, thick; 4 to 10 obconic.

Pronotum: quadrate; lateral margin straight; anterior margin slightly emarginate medially; anterior angle rounded; posterior angle acute; convex; basal impression absent.

Scutellum: subquadrate.

Elytron: with 10 rows of punctures plus short scutellar row; punctate-striate.

Venter: prosternumprosternum:
contains two anterior coxal cavities
narrow, with longitudinal sulcus, truncate at apex; suture between abdominal sterna 1 and 2 obsolete medially.

Leg: short; robust; emarginate at apex.

Distribution

Algeria, Angola, Bhutan, Cameroon, China, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Greece, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Mozambique, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rhodesia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.

World Fauna

Described species: 71 (Staines 2012). Key: Maulik 1919, Reitter 1927, Chûjô 1933, Uhmann 1949a, Gressitt 1950, Gressitt & Kimoto 1963a, Medvedev 1992a, Kimoto 1999.

Hosts

Arundinella, Bambusa, Dactylis,Dendrocalamus, Dendrocalamopsis, Ishaemum, Marantochloa, Miscanthus, Oryza,Paspalum, Pennisetum,Phragmites, Phyllostachys, Pleioblastus,Rottboellia,Saccharum, Scirpus, Sinocalamus, Vetiveria (Poaceae); Solanum (Solanaceae).

References

Baly, J. S. 1858. Catalogue of Hispidae in the collection of the BritishMuseum. London, 172 pp.

Chevrolat, L. A. A. 1836. in P. F. M. A. Dejean, Catalogue des Coléoptères de la collection de M. le comte Dejean. Troisième edition, revue, corrigée et augmentée, livr. 5, pp. 385‑503. Mequignon-Marvis. Paris.

Chûjô, M. 1933. Studies on the Chrysomelidae in the Japanese Empire (IV). Transactions of the Natural History Society of Formosa 23:305‑334.

Fairmaire, L. 1884. Note sur les Coléoptères recueillis par M. Ach. Raffay à Madagascar et descriptions des espèces nouvelles 1re parte. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (6)4:225-242.

Germar, E. F. 1824. Insectorum species novae aut minus cognitae, descriptionibus, illustratae. Halae. 624 pp.

Gestro, R. 1899b. Materiali per lo studio delle Hispidae. IV. Cenni sul genere Coelaenomenodera. V. Appunti sul genere Downesia. VI. Le especie del genere Prionispa. VII. Intorno ad alcune Hispa plantiacante. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova (2)20(40):215-229.

Gressitt, J. L. 1950. The hispine beetles of China (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Lingnan Science Journal 23(1-2):53-142.

Gressitt, J. L. & S. Kimoto. 1963a. The Chrysomelidae (Coleopt.) of China and Korea. Part 2. Pacific Insects Monograph 1B:301‑1026.

Kimoto, S. 1999. Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. VI. Hispinae. Bulletin of the Institute of Comparative Studies of International Cultures and Societies 23: 59-159.

Maulik, S. 1919. Hispinae and Cassidinae of India, Burma and Ceylon. The fauna of British India. Taylor & Francis, London. 439 pp.

Medvedev, L. N. 1992b. Revision of the subfamily Hispinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in the fauna of Vietnam. Part 1. pp. 127-156 In L. N. Medvedev (ed). Systematization and ecology of insects of Vietnam. Nauka, Moscow. 264 pp. [in Russian]

Pic, M. 1925a. Nouveautés diverses. Mélanges Exotico-entomologiques 43:1-32.

Reitter, E. 1927. Uebersicht der mir bekannten palaearkt. Hispini. Entomologisches Nachrichtsblatt 1(3):33-34.

Staines, C. L. 2012. Tribe Leptispini. Catalog of the hispines of the world (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). http://entomology.si.edu/Collections_Coleoptera.html

Uhmann, E. 1949a. Palaearktische Hispinae. 105. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Hispinae (Coleopt. Chrysom.). Koleopterologische Zeitschrift 1:3-12.

Weise, J. 1911a. Coleopterorum Catalogus Chrysomelidae: Hispinae. W. Junk, Berlin. pars 35:1-94.